Chapter 11 11. Dragonfly

malicious truth Beat all the lies you can make up —William Blake Amma climbed up the path leading to the cave, with bread and milk in the bag on her back, and her heart was filled with heavy confusion. How could she get close to the sleeping girl? She came to the rock where the woman told her to put the food, put down the food, but instead of going straight home, she climbed forward for a while, climbed through the cave, through the thick rhododendrons, and then continued to climb until the trees were sparse. , where the rainbow appears. There she played a game with the elf: they climbed over rock formations, around great green and white waterfalls, waded through eddies, and through colorful splashes, while her hair and eyelashes and the elf's squirrel fur It is covered with countless small drops of water.The content of the game is to climb to the top of the mountain in one breath, and she can't wipe the water drops on her eyes anyway. Soon the sun will change into red, yellow, blue, green and other colorful colors; but only after reaching the top of the mountain, she can Wipe your eyes with your hand to see better or you lose the game.

Her elf Courant jumped onto the rock at the edge of the tallest cascade, and she knew he'd turn around in an instant to make sure she hadn't wiped the bead off her eyelashes—unless he hadn't. Yet he stayed there, staring straight ahead. Amma wiped her eyes, for the surprise the elf felt had ended the game. As she climbed up and looked over the side of the hill, she gasped, stunned, because looking down at her was the face of an animal she had never seen before: it was a bear, but huge and terrifying, bigger than the forest. The brown bear in it was four times as big, and was as white as ivory, with a black nose, black eyes, and claws as long as daggers.He was only an arm's length away from her, and she could see every hair on his head.

"Who is it?" said a boy's voice.Although Ama couldn't understand what he said, she could easily understand what he meant. After a while, the boy appeared next to the bear: fierce looking, with a frown and a protruding jaw.Was that bird-like thing next to him an elf?But what a strange bird: unlike any bird she had ever seen.It flew to Courant and said bluntly: "Friends, we will not hurt you." The big bear didn't move at all. "Come up," said the boy, and her spirit communicated his message to her again. Amma watched the bear with blind awe, then climbed up the edge of the cascade and stood coyly on the rock.Courant turned into a butterfly, rested on her cheek for a moment, and then flapped his wings again, flying around the elf sitting quietly on the boy's head.

"Will," said the boy, pointing at himself, and she responded, "Ama." Now that she could see clearly, she was almost more afraid of the boy than the bear: he had a terrible wound: two fingers gone. She felt dizzy when she saw it. The bear turned and walked along the milky creek, and lay down in the water, as if trying to cool off.The boy's elf flew into the air, and Courant flew among the rainbows together, and slowly began to understand each other.Were they looking for the cave where a girl slept? Words rolled out of her mouth, she said: "I know where the cave is? She was hypnotized by a woman who claimed to be her mother, but how can a mother be so cruel, right? She forced her to drink something hypnotic, but I have some herbs that will wake her up, if only I can get close to her!"

Will could only shake his head, waiting for Balthamos to translate, which took more than a minute. "Iorek," he called.The bear was lumbering along the river bed, licking his tongue now after swallowing a fish. "Iorek," Will said, "this girl said she knew where Lyra was. I'll go take a look with her, you stay here and keep watch. " Iorek stood calmly in the stream, nodding silently.Will stashed the rucksack, buckled the knife, and climbed down with Amma across the rainbow, obliged to wipe his eyes to see through the blinding light that his feet were firmly planted, and the air was filled with cold water. fog.

When they reached the bottom of the waterfall, Amma signaled to them to walk carefully and not to make a sound, and Will followed her down the slope, with green moss-covered rocks and large knotty pine trees on both sides, reflected in the dappled sunlight. In the dark green, countless insects are screaming and singing.As they went down, the sun followed them into the deep valley, and the branches overhead swayed under the bright sky. Then Amma stopped and Will stepped behind the huge trunk of a cedar tree and looked in the direction she was pointing.Through the straggling leaves and branches he could see a cliff rising to his right, halfway up the hill—"Mrs. Coulter," he whispered, his heart beating fast.

The woman came out from behind the rock, shook out a densely leafed branch, threw it away, and wiped her hands.Was she sweeping the floor just now?Her sleeves are rolled up and her hair is wrapped in a turban.Will never expected her to be such a housewife. But at this moment, a golden light flashed, and the vicious monkey appeared and jumped on her shoulder. They seemed to suspect something and looked around. Suddenly, Mrs. Coulter's taste of a housewife disappeared. Ama whispered eagerly: She was afraid of the golden monkey spirit, which liked to tear off the bat's wings alive. "Anyone else with her?" Will said. "No soldiers or anything like that?"

Amma doesn't know, she's never seen any soldiers, but people do talk about strange, scary men they've seen on the hills at night, ghosts maybe...but there's always ghosts on the hills, everyone knows that, so they Maybe it has nothing to do with that woman. Well, Will thought, if Lyra's in the cave and Mrs. Coulter isn't gone, I'll have to pay a visit. He said: "What medicine do you have? How can I use it to wake her up?" Amma explained. "Where is the medicine now?" In her home, she said, it was hidden. "Okay. Here you are, don't get too close. When you see her, don't say you know me. You've never seen me or a bear. When are you next going to bring her food?"

"Half an hour before the sun goes down," said the Elf of Amma. "Bring the medicine with you then," Will said, "I'll wait for you here." She watched anxiously as he stepped up the path and set off.He must not believe what she said about the monkey elf, otherwise he would not have walked towards the cave so rashly. In fact, Will was so nervous that all his senses seemed to be awake, so that although his eyes never left the hole for a moment, he could feel the tiniest insect floating in the sun's beam, and the quiver of every leaf. and the movement of clouds in the sky.

"Balthamos," he whispered.The angel spirit turned into a red-winged bird with bright eyes and flew to his shoulder. "Come near me, beware of that monkey." "Then look to your right," said Balthamos sharply. Will saw a golden spot at the mouth of the cave, with a face and eyes looking at them, and they were within twenty paces.He stopped, and the golden monkey turned his head to look into the cave, said something, and turned his head again. Will touched the handle of the knife and continued walking. When he reached the cave, the woman was waiting for him. She was sitting comfortably in a small canvas chair, looking at him calmly, with a book on her lap.She was wearing a khaki traveling suit, but it was well cut, and with her graceful figure, it looked like the most high-end fashion, and the little red flower pinned to the front of the shirt seemed the most exquisite. Jewelry, her hair glistened, her dark eyes sparkled, her bare legs gleamed golden in the sun.

She smiled.Will couldn't smile back at her because he wasn't used to the sweetness and tenderness in a woman's smile and it disturbed him. "You're Will," she said in that low, intoxicating voice. "How do you know my name?" he said roughly. "Laila said it in her sleep." "Where is she?" "very safe." "I want to see her." "Then come with me." She said and stood up, dropping the book on the chair. For the first time since meeting her, Will's eyes fell on the monkey elf. Its hair was long and shiny, and each hair seemed to be made of pure gold, which was much more beautiful than human hair. The small face and hands are black.Will had last seen the face the night he and Lyra stole the alethiometer back from Sir Charles Latrome's house in Oxford, when its face, contorted with hatred, tried to tear him apart with its teeth. , until Will drove it back with a knife slashing left and right, which allowed him to close the window and separate them into another world.Will felt he had to be wary of the monkey now. But Balthamos, in bird form, was watching closely, and Will walked cautiously across the floor of the hole, following Mrs. Coulter towards the small figure lying still in the shadows. His dearest friend lay there, and how small she looked!He was amazed at how Lyra, who was so hot when she was awake, was so refined and submissive in her sleep.Pantalaimon lay polecat beside her neck, its fur gleaming, Lyra's hair hanging wet on her forehead. Will knelt down beside her, brushing her hair, her face hot.Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the golden monkey crouching down to pounce, his hand on the knife, but Mrs. Coulter shook his head slightly, and the golden monkey relaxed. Will casually memorized the exact layout of the cave: the shape and size of each rock, the slope of the ground, the exact height of the ceiling above sleeping Lyra, the hole he needed to walk through in the dark, which he had seen beforehand. The only chance to see it. "So you see, she's pretty safe," said Mrs. Coulter. "Why did you keep her here? Why didn't you wake her up?" "Let's sit down and talk." Instead of a chair, she sat with him on the mossy rocks at the mouth of the cave.Her words sounded so kind, and her eyes held such wisdom, that Will's distrust of her deepened.He felt that every word she said was a lie, every movement a hidden threat, every smile a mask of deceit.Well, he had to deceive her, too: he had to make her think he meant no harm.He's been honing his skills at conning every teacher, police officer, and social worker who took an interest in him and his family. Yes, he thought, I can handle you. "Would you like something to drink?" Mrs. Coulter said, "I'd like some too . . . quite safe. voila. " She cut open a few crumpled, pale-brown fruits and squeezed the cloudy juice into two small wine glasses. She sipped one of them and handed the other to Will, who also took a sip and found it fresh and delicious. sweet. "How did you find out here?" she said. "It's not hard to follow you." "Obviously. Do you have Lyra's alethiometer?" "Yes," he said, leaving her to guess whether he could read or not. "You still have a knife, don't you?" "Sir Charles told you, didn't he?" "Sir Charles? Oh—Carroll, of course. Yes, he told me. Sounds wonderful. May I have a look?" "No, of course not," he said. "Why did you keep Lyra here?" "Because I love her," she said, "I am her mother, and she is in great danger, and I will not let anything happen to her." "Where does the danger come from?" Will said. "Well..." She said, putting the wine glass on the ground, leaning forward, her hair hanging down her cheeks.Sitting up straight again, she tucked her hair behind her ears with her hands, and Will smelled some perfume on her body, the aroma of her body odor, and he felt restless. Even when Mrs. Coulter saw his reaction, she did not show it.She continued, "Look, Will, I don't know how you met my daughter, I don't know what you know, I don't know if I can trust you, but I'm tired of lying too, so next I It's all true. "I found out that my daughter was in danger, and the danger was from people I belonged to before - they were people from the church. Frankly, I thought they were trying to kill her, so I found myself in a dilemma, lo and behold: obey the church, or save my daughter.I am also a faithful servant of the Church, and no one is more fanatical than I. I have dedicated my life to it, and I serve it with passion. "But I have this daughter..." I know I didn't take good care of her when she was little, she was taken and raised by strangers, maybe that made it hard for her to believe me, but as she got older, I saw The danger she's in, and I've managed to save her from that danger three times now.I have become a traitor, hiding in this far away place.I thought we were safe, but now that you found us so easily - well, you can understand, it worries me.The church will come next, and they want to kill her, Will.They won't keep her alive. " "Why? Why do they hate her so much?" "Because of all the things they thought she would do in the future, I don't know what, I wish I knew, because then I could keep her safer. But all I know is that they hate her and have no mercy heart, nothing." Leaning forward, she spoke eagerly, calmly, and tightly. "Why am I telling you this?" she went on. "Can I trust you? I think I have to. I can't run away anymore. There's nowhere else to go. If you , you can be my friend too, I do need friends, I need help. Everything is against me right now. If the church finds us, they'll kill Lyra with me. I'm all alone, Will, and I'm alone Man and daughter are in the cave, and all the powers of all the worlds are trying to find us, and your presence here clearly shows how easy it is to find us. What are you going to do, Will? What do you want?" "Why did you hypnotize her?" he said, avoiding her topic. "Because what would happen if I woke her up? She'd run away in no time and wouldn't live for five days." "But why don't you explain it to her and give her the choice?" "Do you think she'll listen? Do you think she'll believe me even if she does? She doesn't trust me, she hates me, Will. You should know that. She despises me. I, uh... I don't know How to say—I loved her so much that I gave up all I had—great career, great happiness, position, and fortune—for this, and came down to this cave in the mountains to live on dry bread and Sour fruit for a living just to keep my daughter alive. If I have to put her to sleep for this, let her sleep. But I must let her live. Your mother will not pay for you Is that much?" Will was shocked and outraged that Mrs. Coulter had dared to bring up his mother in support of her argument. Then, complicating his initial shock by the thought that his mother hadn't protected him after all, he had to protect her instead.Does Mrs. Coulter love Lyra more than Elaine Perry loves him?But that's unfair: his mother is in poor health. Mrs. Coulter was either unaware of the ripples her simple words had stirred Will's emotions, or she was brilliant, her beautiful eyes watching tenderly as Will blushed and moved uncomfortably. he.For a moment, Mrs. Coulter looked as innocent as her daughter. "But what are you going to do about it?" she said. "Well, I've seen Lyra now," Will said. "She's alive, obviously, and she's safe, I think. That's all I was going to do, so now that I've done what I can I can go to help Lord Asriel as planned." This startled her slightly, but she controlled it. "That's not what you mean—I thought you'd help us," she said quite calmly, neither pleading nor asking. "Use that knife. I saw what you did at Sir Charles' house. You can keep us safe, can't you? You can help us get out." "Now I'm leaving," Will said, standing up. She holds out her hand, smiles sadly, shrugs and nods, as if facing a skilled opponent who has made a good move: that's what her body language says.He thought he liked her because she was brave, because she was like a more complex, richer, deeper Lyra, and he couldn't help liking her. So he shook her hand and found it firm, cool, and soft.She turned to the golden monkey who had been sitting behind her and exchanged a look that Will couldn't understand. Then she turned and smiled. "Goodbye," he said.She said quietly, "Goodbye, Will." He left the cave, knowing her eyes were following him, and he didn't look back.Amma was nowhere to be seen.He walked back the way he had come until he heard the sound of a waterfall ahead. "She's lying," he said to Iorek Bernison thirty minutes later, "of course she's lying, even if it makes things worse, she's lying because she's just too liar, Can't help myself." "Then what is your plan?" said the Bear, who was lying on his back in the sun on a patch of snow between the rocks. Will paced up and down, wondering if he could do the trick he had done with Headington: go into another world with the knife, then walk up to where Lyra was lying, cut into it, drag her place in a safe place, and then close the windows.The obvious thing to do: why did he hesitate? Balthamos knew why.He turned back into his original angelic form, fluttering like hot mist in the sun, "It was a foolish move for you to go to her, all you want to do now is to see her again." Iorek let out a low growl.At first Will thought he was warning Balthamos, but then, with a bit of shock and embarrassment, he realized that the bear was agreeing with the angel.So far they had ignored each other, their categories were too different, but on this point they were clearly in agreement. Will frowned, but it was true.He was captured by Mrs. Coulter, and all his thoughts were about her: when he thought of Lyra, he thought of how much she would grow up to be like her mother; Priests and bishops were fascinated by her; when he thought of his dead father, he wondered whether he hated her or loved her; On the rocks throughout the valley.In the clear cold air he could hear the distant tap-tap of logging, and the brushing of treetops far below; A hawk hovering over some dying animals. One thing is certain: Balthamus was right, the woman had cast a spell on him, remembering those beautiful eyes and sweet voice, remembering her raising her arm to move her shining hair to The back of the head... feels pleasurable and overwhelming. As he struggled to regain his sanity, he heard another sound: a distant hum. He turned around, trying to locate the sound, and realized that it was coming from the north, where he and Iorek had come. "Zeppelin," said the bear's voice, startling Will because he didn't hear the big animal approaching.Iorek stood beside him, looking in the same direction, then reared up on his hind legs, twice as tall as Will, with focused eyes. "how many?" "Eight," Iorek said after a moment, and Will saw them too: little dots lined up. "Can you tell me how long it takes them to get here?" Will said. "Arrive shortly after nightfall." "So it's not dark enough by then. That's a problem." "What's your plan?" "Cut a hole, take Laila into another world, and close it before her mother comes after her. The girl has a drug that wakes Laila up, but she doesn't explain exactly how to use it, so she has to In the hole, though, I don't want her in danger. Maybe you can distract Mrs. Coulter while we're at it." Bear snorted and closed his eyes.Will looked around for the angel, seeing his silhouette imprinted in the mist in the near-dusk sun. "Balthamos," he said, "I'm going back to the forest now to find a safe place to make my first incision. I need you to keep watch for me, and let me know when she comes near—she or her elf." Balthamos nodded, spread his wings to shake off the mist, and rushed into the cold air, gliding out to fly high above the valley, while Will began to search for a world where Lyra would be safe. In the creaking, roaring double bulkheads of the lead Zeppelin, dragonflies were hatching. Mrs. Salmachia bent down on the cracked cocoon of the iron-blue dragonfly, gently wiped off the wet thin wings, and carefully let her face be the first to be imprinted in the multi-faceted eyes, soothing it to stretch out nerves, whispered its name to the wise animal, so that it would know who it was. A few minutes later Knight Thales would do the same to his dragonfly, but now, he was sending a message on the lodestone resonator, his attention fully focused on the bow and the movement of his fingers. He sent: "To Lord Locke: "We are three hours before our estimated time of reaching the valley, and the Inquisition intends to send a detachment to the cave as soon as it lands. "It will divide into two groups, the first group will rush into the hole, kill the child, and chop off her head to confirm her death. If possible, capture the woman as well, although they cannot kill her. "The second group captured the boy alive. "The rest of the force will deal with King Ogunwe's gyroplanes. They expect the gyroplanes to follow the Zeppelins, and Madame Sarmazia and I will leave the Zeppelins soon after your order. Airship, fly directly to the cave, where we'll figure out how to defend the girls against the first group, holding them off until reinforcements arrive. "We await your reply." The echo arrived almost immediately. "To Thales Knight: "According to your report, the plan has changed. "In order to prevent the enemy from killing the child - which would be the worst possible outcome - you and Mrs. Sarmazia should cooperate with the boy. Because he has the knife and the initiative, so if he opens another world Take the girls in, let him do it, and go in with them, stay by their side the whole time." Knight Thales replied: "To Lord Locke: "Your message has been received and understood, and my wife and I will leave immediately. " The little spy turned off the resonator and collected his equipment. "Thales," said a low voice in the darkness, "it's about to hatch, you should come here now." He jumped onto the pillar, and his dragonfly was struggling to get into the world, and he gently lifted it out of its ruptured cocoon.He stroked its large, vicious head, erecting the still-damp, curly, bulky antennae, letting it taste his skin until it did exactly what he wanted it to do. Sarmazia is fitting her dragonfly with the harness she always carries: spider silk reins, titanium stirrups, hummingbird leather saddle.These are so light that they are almost weightless, Thales also configured his dragonfly, tied the straps around the body of the dragonfly, tightened and adjusted, this harness will always be worn. Then he quickly slung the knapsack over his shoulders and cut through the oiled, fibrous hide of the Zeppelin.Beside him, the lady mounted her dragonfly, which she now urged through the narrow crack and into the thumping wind. The long, fragile wings quivered as it squeezed through the gap, and then the joy of flight took hold of the animal, and it flung itself into the wind.Seconds later Ty and Jass joined her in the furious air, his mount eager to fight the rapidly gathering twilight itself. Spinning upward in the icy air, they took a moment to get their bearings, to determine their course to the valley.